Page 87 of Fated to the Warrior Wolf

Rudi nodded sharply, casting another terrified glance at his restrained Alpha. Reed walked past, handing Rudi a microphone.

“Can you please state your name, designation, and position?”

The microphone shook in his hand, but he straightened his shoulders before he spoke. “I’m Rudolph of the Hungarian pack. My designation in our pack is upsilon, and I have served for the last two hundred years as the pack’s accountant.”

I rocked back on my heels, suddenly realizing why this particular witness was so key. I could practically feel the smugness rolling off Reed from Kane’s other side.

“And why would an accountant be able to provide such a key testimony in the case of a murder?” Reed asked, damnably cool and collected even as he pulled the pin out of the grenade that would blow Varga’s case wide open.

“Because I have proof that he hired the Drakenia guild to murder the high alpha.”

FORTY-TWO

Leigh

Brielle’s sharp intake of breath at the witness’s admission had me wishing I was closer so I could lean my shoulder into hers and give her my support. But she sat straight as an arrow, the perfect picture of a high alpha mate, unerring in her support of Kane as he went through what had to be one of the hardest moments of his life.

Frankly, I didn’t know how he was keeping his shit together. He was less than ten feet from the man who’d ordered his parents’ deaths. I’d have ripped his head off in that chalet they picked him up from and been done with it.

But that was one of the many reasons I wasn’t high alpha.

“Please tell us what you know, Rudi,” Reed asked the witness.

The man cleared his throat and adjusted the neck of his shirt, glancing nervously at his own Alpha, who was still enduring the silver burns to snatch at his restraints.

I could smell the fear rolling off the witness as much as the fury boiling off Varga. It made my wolf itchy, and I was working hard not to shift in my seat. She was on high alert because of Petal and was taking no threats lightly. Emotionally chargedmales a few feet away? Threat. Sweat beaded on my forehead from the effort.

“It is not in my nature to question my Alpha, but when I received Reed’s request on behalf of the high alpha, I took it very seriously. At first, I found nothing untoward. And I was prepared to stand here today and say that. However, the more I dug, the more I found issues with the pack’s accounts. Alpha Varga’s personal funds were being intermingled, which is not supposed to happen. Once I dug further, I realized why. He was trying to cover up a large outflow.”

He fumbled a little as he pulled out a thick stack of papers from the breast pocket of his coat, folded in half to fit inside the pocket. He smoothed them carefully twice before tentatively extending them toward Kane.

Kane nodded as he took the stack, quickly reading the evidence presented before passing it to Reed.

“This matches what our analysts found. One hundred million dollars, deposited into the account of the Drakenia guild.”

A strangled grunt came from Varga, but I didn’t spare him a glance.

This is it, this is where we get justice.

“Yes, that is correct. I’ve also spoken to his personal secretary, Alice, who was as dismayed as I that the Hungarian pack name has been besmirched by our own Alpha, and we hope that our full cooperation will prove to everyone that the entire pack was not embroiled in this disgraceful scheme. She was able to provide me with another piece of information. If you’ll flip to the last page, there…” Rudi gestured to the stack, and Reed quickly did as he suggested, his grim expression as he read telling.

“It’s an email from the personal account of Alpha Varga,” Reed said, casting Kane a questioning glance. Asking permission?

“Read it aloud,” Kane ordered, shifting from foot to foot. It was the only tiny sign of agitation he’d allowed to slip through.

“‘We need it done before his son finds a mate, while the line is still weak. I’m willing to pay the rush fee to move to the top of the line. Just take care of the bastard.’ It’s addressed to Gallagher, the founder of the Drakenia Assassin’s Guild. Further down, it references your father by name.”

Chaos exploded in the crowd, and I leapt to my feet, turning so I could see the stage and the crowd. Dirge and Shay were up a second later, fanning out with me to keep an eye on things. A shoe went flying toward the stage, pegging Varga in the knee before bouncing away and landing with a thud.

But before people could descend into complete anarchy, Kane bellowed, “Enough! Sit down!” As quickly as the ruckus started, the gathered wolves went deathly still as his dominance squashed us all toward the earth.

My knees buckled at the command, and in between heartbeats, I was in the grass, next to a wide-eyed Shay.

Kane turned toward Rudi and shocked the shit out of me when he gave the weaker male a formal bow. “Rudolph of the Hungarian pack, you have my gratitude for your bravery in coming forward with the evidence we needed to solve my parents’ murder. You and your family are now under my protection, and no retaliation will be tolerated. Reed will see to it that you’re made comfortable and help you and Alice both find a new position within one of our other packs if you so choose.”

Rudi nodded, knees quaking as he looked out over the subdued crowd. “Thank you, High Alpha. We will accept a new posting.”

Kane nodded and waved for Reed to see the man off the stage. As they walked back into the woods, Kane turned somber eyes on us.

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